b'Its what makes theatre such a vibrant art form, King says. For that reason, I dont see myself ever writing prose or other forms of written storytelling. I think of myself as a theatre technician. In whatever creative role I happen to find myself in, I just cant see it being something that I do in isolation.Kings interest in the power of the written word is no less strong than her interest in the influence of digital technology.As a playwright I take myself to task in terms of the quality of the language that I use, she says. I think its really important in this particular political moment for female or female-identifying playwrights to write work that is muscular, to write political realism, to write work that has an adept, rigorous approach to language.I think often there is a sort of implicit assumption that if you are female or a female-identifying playwright, your work is supposed to be lyrical, or very emotion-based. Im far more interested in what might typically be thought of as the male voice in playwriting, to say that, well no, male priorities shouldnt have a monopoly on overt political realism or vulgarity or whatever else it might be.Mostly, I just write what Im interested in and I dont self-police what I write, she says. I think thats when you start to get into dangerous territory, when youre trying to write, for example, for the diversity programming slot at a theatre. Then you start to write a very specific kind of play, and Im not interested in writing for those reasons.White Pearl plays at Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, October 24November 9Story originally by Elissa Blake and published on Audrey Journal PHOTO BY STEVEN SIEWERT59'